The Hook

- [Narrator] Coming up on The Hook, Chef Ricky Moore is known for cooking up fresh, North Carolina seafood in styles influenced by everything from French Cuisine to his grandmother's paper bag technique.

Follow along as he traces bonefish from ocean to plate.

The Hook, it's the funkiest fish show on the planet.

- [Woman] Funding provided by: Additional funding provided by, the Outer Banks Visitors Bureau [waves crash] [sizzling] - In a traditional classical kitchen, the range or the stove is considered the piano in the French kitchen so in this context, this is my DJ set.

[upbeat music] I'm chef Ricky Moore, owner of Saltbox Seafood Joint.

["North Cack" by G Yamazawa] When people from Down East, North Carolina, where I'm from, talk about bone in fish, they're talking about small pan fish, about the size of your hand, gutted, [squish] and fried so hard that the whole thing can be eaten, bones and all.

["North Cack" by G Yamazawa] Yeah man.

It's not inappropriate to eat bonefish, you're just not used to eating bonefish.

I tell people, "Look, try it."

You know, just try it.

Right now I kinda consider myself the bonefish evangelist, because for me, those bonefish are very sustainable, okay, they're reasonably priced, and I think people in the States should be eating even more of it, you know what I mean.

If you put enough care and love into it, in whatever it is, people will enjoy it.

Got some good energy in my bones, all right cool.

[jazzy music] My day here starts at 5:30.

I get up in the morning, kinda gather myself a little bit, just kinda think about what plan is for the day.

I check my cellphone, see if there's any sort of a communication from the fishermen and then I start my day.

You got everything in your book bag man?

- Yeah.

- Is all you homework and stuff complete?

- Yeah - Okay, Greyson, I think we gotta get ready to go down man.

- Okay.

- Somebody hit a baby turtle.

- It was you.

[laughs] - [Ricky] I did not, don't blame me.

- Yes you did, it was you.

- Okay, all right son have a good day man, I love you man, ciao man.

All right babe, love you, take it easy.

Hunter, have a good day, I love you.

[relaxed music] I wanted to start my own business, so I found a little place that was 205 square foot.

Growing up, I didn't know a lot of black entrepreneurs, and black professional chefs, I didn't know any.

In the beginning, I couldn't afford to have nobody, so I cooked and took the money.

Now, I have a second restaurant with indoor seating and air conditioning.

I'm doing my thing like I don't have any other choice.

It's a box, we serve seafood and hey man, it's a little joint on Mangum.

[laughs] [motorcycle engine roars] All right.

[ocean waves] So listen, some of my favorite fish in the world is bone-in fish, croakers, spots, butterfish, hogfish, I grew up eating all that stuff.

But we are gonna go ahead and go down to the Outer Banks and we gonna explore, like you know, what that means, this whole bonefish thing, 'cause it don't get lot of press to me.

But I'm gonna make sure, I'm gonna be the evangelist of that.

There's not only a special way to eat bonefish, there's also a special way to catch it.

So I'm heading down to the Outer Banks to go fishing with Frank and Darrel.

They came from a long line of black watermen who made a living from the ocean.

All right good to meet you.

- Frank Hester.

- All right good to meet you.

- Nice to meet you also.

And make a long story short, went and joined the Coast Guard.

[upbeat music] Looking backwards in time, I realized that the linkage not with just our family but a lot of family, the Coast Guard was a big deal.

- I was the historian at the Wright Brothers Memorial Monument for over 40 years.

- [Ricky] Wow, wow.

Mr. Wright brother.

[Darrel laughs] Mr. Wright brother.

[airplane engine hums] They fly them all over the world.

- My grandmother side, our family have been here for almost 157 years.

- We're going fishing tomorrow.

So where we going, what are we gonna try to catch?

- [Frank] Well, we call it croaker choking.

[Everyone laughs] - Definte that, croaker choking, all right?

[fish eating] - Bottom fishing for croakers, spots, sea mullets, maybe speckled trout or something.

- [Ricky] All my favorite fish, just so you know.

Yeah, all of my family, we grew up eating bonefish, man.

It was no filet at all.

No other preparation at all.

Fried up, done deal, you know?

[sizzling] [bell rings] - Okay guys, we're all set.

Here's our croaker - Oh thank you.

- This is the probably the reason why people don't eat a lot of this, is because they're afraid of it.

- Right - Because this doesn't look right for nowadays.

But actually eating fish like this would probably induce conversation 'Cause you gotta pay a little attention.

- Absolutely - [Frank] While you're going.

- I would agree, 100%.

[soft jazzy music] [restaurant murmurs] - The hands and the mouth and it all.

[laughter] - To go to market?

- [Ricky] Now you know.

- Tomorrow, gentlemen, my son and daughter, Hunter and Greyson, they want to come out and kind of fish, and I want them to see how it happens.

- You gotta remember, there's a difference between fishing and catching.

[drumming tatters] - [Ricky] The local DJ heard I was in town and invited me to stop by his radio show.

We're gonna chat a little about what I do.

Maybe he'll want to go croaker choking with us.

[relaxed music] James, how are you?

- Chef Moore - Rick Moore - Glad to meet you - Good to meet you - And welcome to the show.

[jazzy music plays] - Very special guest, please welcome Chef Ricky Moore, owner of Salt Box Seafood Joint - [Woman] A small takeout only seafood stand in Durham is getting major accolades.

- [Man] What Saveur called a tiny but mighty seafood shack is the brainchild of Chef Ricky Moore.

- Can you tell us a little bit about yourself please?

- I didn't want to be a chef at all, I was gonna be an artist, I was a big fan of Ernie Barnes.

So all through high school, that's what I did.

I did art.

- But weren't you in the military?

- Yeah, yes, I went into the military to cook, and then spent time in 82nd Airborne, I was 11 Bravo, and then I got a job working for the General's mess, so that's like the high end, coming from the General And one thing I want to say about the military, being a cook in the military, the stigma is you get a bunch of stuff scooped and slopped on your plate, but the food has to be good.

It's the most important morale booster you can ever have when you're away from home, so you know, I learned what it means to even take care of my customers in that context.

- Where did you learn to cook?

- I decided to go to school, okay?

And the school was Culinary Institute of America located in Hyde Park, New York.

And there I just immersed myself in everything cooking, everything culinary, all the history.

Prior going to school I had experience, but the one thing that I lacked was the why, the how, the where, the origin.

Classical cookery.

- We're supposed to be going fishing tomorrow, so I'm really looking forward to that.

- Hopefully we catch something.

- I've been here, what, 18 and a half years, and unfortunately I can't fish.

[laughs] - Really?

- I dedicate the next, the first set to Chef Ricky Moore of Salt Box Seafood joints in Durham, North Carolina.

[jazzy music] And you're listening to jazz here on Sunday night on 99.1, the Sound.

[ocean waves crash] [seagull cries] [upbeat music] - Good seeing you again.

- Ready to go young man?

- Yeah.

- You won't need that.

[laughter] - So I guess, can you share with me some different types of bait?

- I would suggest for spot, you want to use blood worms.

- [Ricky] Blood worms.

- [Salesman] Technically its a leech.

- [Ricky] Okay, all right, got it.

- [Salesman] They have it, they have it.

- I don't like the blood worms.

[laid back music] - What I think we'll do, we'll get on the other side of the bridge, and we'll try drift fishing first.

[fish chomps] - [Ricky] Do you remember how to tie those knots?

So if you see a flock of seagulls kind of hanging out, there's some kind of activity there.

- [Frank] Yup.

- [Ricky] Hey Hunter, you need anything?

Anything picking?

[boat motor hums] - It's like anything else, you gotta be there.

So most times you talk to fishermen, the fishing was always better yesterday.

- [Ricky] Right, got it.

[laughter] [Greyson gasps] - [Frank] That was just a bottle.

- But it ate my blood worm.

- All right, we'll get you another one.

[laughter] - [Frank] Catch anything?

- No.

- [Frank] No.

- I think it's cool that you've got the technique.

I think that's the real important thing.

- Yeah - I mean, you know The bonus is gonna be catching the fish at some point.

- Gotta say life is made up of moments.

People don't remember whole days, but they remember pieces of it.

- [Ricky] Pieces of it, right.

- And it's always good to have those moments to be able to go back to.

Like right now it's hot, and I know he's sweating in that life jacket.

- Oh, he's going crazy.

- [Frank] But he will remember this.

- Yeah, there will be a reference point.

Good, bad, indifferent, - [Frank] Right.

- He'll speak to it.

He can't wait to get a cheeseburger right now.

He's like, man I can't wait to get a bit of cheese.

[laid back music] - I wish we could have caught some fish.

- The Saltbox - [Both] Seafood Joint - That's right, you're right.

- Looking forward to that.

[wind blows] [funky music plays] - I just want to understand that process or that system where the fish comes in on the dock, and it gets to my restaurant, and I get it to the consumer.

[fishing reel whizzes] - Well we worked the night shift last night.

We left about 6: 00.

- [Ricky] How long do you stay out?

- I don't even know what time it is.

- About 12 hours.

- [Ricky] Wow, 12 hour days.

- Yeah and we put a set 10 or 15 miles of line, and we call them dobs.

We but a dob, then we put drop hook, like five drop hooks and a dob, then throw that there in the ocean.

- Got it, got it, wow.

Okay, so, and that kind of sits out there, and then you guys reel it back - Reel it back in, yes sir.

[deep water bubbling] [fish chomps] [whistles] - I wanted to bring my kids here because yesterday we didn't catch any fish, man.

- The people want their product fresh, right?

So we try not to keep it here long.

It's not like a canned good.

We bring it here, we sort it on size, species, this person's product, he's separating, we'll put it on the conveyor, take it to the scale.

Most of the bigger fish go in 100 pound boxes.

The smaller fish will go in 50 pounds.

Put ice on top and bottom.

Get it on the truck.

- Did you expect to see me here?

- No [laughter] What's up?

- This is the gentleman that delivers to me in Durham.

LeeLee.

He's the guy that brings all the fish.

- You guys seen spot before?

- [Ricky] You eat a spot.

- Remember we were talking about, they call them by what they look like?

See that little dot right there, that spot?

If you've every heard these guys live, they croak.

[fish croaks] There's a trout, a grey trout, also called a weak fish.

- [Ricky] Weak fish, all right, weak fish.

- So actually tell me some history.

- It was just a small -- we retailed out of a eight by 20 little room, and now we've got a retail and a kitchen up front we've had about six, seven years now.

- There's some similarities as I'm trying to grow my business, Saltbox, how I started.

A very humble small 205 square foot space, and now I'm evolving to a bigger space, so I can appreciate your story.

Kids, are you thinking we're gonna be able to have some lunch before we leave?

- [Hunter] So what do you think is gonna be on the menu?

- From what was available, if I had to guess, I would say mahi would be the fish basket.

- [Hunter] Oh yay.

- [Ricky] All right.

- You like it?

- When it'ss really fried hard, yeah.

- That's why they're going to fry it in the fish basket, they'll strip it and fry it.

[car starts] - LeeLee.

You doing good man?

- [LeeLee] Yeah.

Four of these?

- Four of these.

The Saltbox is based off of what comes in fresh, so these will go on the menu right now, in real time.

When you fry bonefish, that's the joy.

You want to fry it extra hard so you can enjoy all the little dorsal fins, and I get that reference from some elders in my family.

So, here we go.

[Original theme music from The French Chef] If you notice my table here, I use the terminology Mise en Place.

[applause] Let me give you a home cooking term.

Get all your stuff together before you start cooking.

Mise en Place does not just allude to the materials, but your being, you know?

You've got to be happy to cook good food, right?

So I'm happy, so it makes this dish nice and joyful.

The ingredients we have, obviously the croaker, whole bone in, fresh curly parsley, both sweet potatoes, white and orange, whole butter, fresh lemon, olive oil, capers, salt and pepper, some more lemon juice.

So first thing's first, always inspect your fish and make sure it's good to go.

Some indicators, okay?

See these bright eyes, okay?

Bright eyes, what's that song by bright eyes?

Bright eyes?

Okay I don't know.

["Total Eclipse of the Heart"] So we're gonna score it.

If you don't score it, the fish will buckle when you fry it, so it will tighten up.

Seasoning.

Salt and pepper.

Learn how to season with salt and pepper and be confident with it.

Very simple, you don't need no special dredging and all this sort of thing.

Seasoned flour in the bag.

That's it.

I don't know how many times you've seen your mommas and grandmamas do this, I've seen it many a time.

All right, here we go.

All right, so now were gonna go ahead and put the fish in right now.

[sizzles] It's not a degree of done, its a visual thing now, I want a nice brown, and I want a good crust on it.

That's what I'm looking for.

Nicely brown and a good crust.

Okay, so the la meunire sauce consists of brown butter, beurre noisette, french term, brown butter, all right?

It has lemon juice, capers, and parsley.

Boom done.

[record scratches] [upbeat music] A lot of people say Chef Ricky, you are SaltBox.

Yeah, I am, you hold me accountable if I fall short, you hold me accountable if you feel like it's too expensive.

I'm okay with that, we can talk about it, you know?

And that to me is sort of the connection.

People gotta know that you care about stuff.

Looks gorgeous guys.

So now at this point, this is ready, okay?

So this is croaker la meunire with sweet potato- boiled sweet potato... Let me do it over.

- [Camera Man] Tilt it down.

- To there?

This is North Carolina croaker la meunire.

[laughs] Hell no.

Nope.

Boom boom boom boom.

- [Woman] This is time for a free style moment.

- You gotta do some work, dude.

You can't wait for me and just hang out.

That's too long for you.

Pull it right here.

All right, cool.

You gotta give a high five with the fish hand.

Boom.

[slow jam music] - [Adrian] Running late!

- Hey, hey, hey, what it is man, how you doing.

- I'm good, man, how you doing?

- [Ricky] All right, all right.

- Look at here, look at here.

- Yup, uh-huh.

He got it.

- Welcome to The Green Book Supper Club.

Sunday fish fry [laughs].

So the Green Book Supper Club is all about exposing black contributions to the food scene.

And we knew the Green Book was a guide that got black folk around to safe places to eat, and we thought that was a perfect match, is to call it the Green Book Supper Club, you know?

My job is to make sure everything up front flows well.

You'll see I'll get into the zone when it's time to start talking to people.

Call the sheriff, we need some white bread.

This is gonna be fun.

- [Ricky] This is white perch right here, man.

It's soft, it's sweet.

- Yeah man, I'm just super excited that it's bonefish, man, 'cause you know - Really?

- I still...

I don't think I knew you could get fish without bones until I was 15 or 16.

- We're gonna do the fish fried, but also la meunire.

- la meunire?

- Yeah.

Do all those like that, okay?

- Hope we have enough seats.

- Just like that, look.

Lay it down like that.

[grill sizzles] Got it?

- la meunire?

- [Ricky] la meunire - la meunire.

- All right, oh.

Make sure you don't break it, okay?

This is the heaviest side.

You lift it like that, it will break.

Got it?

- Okay.

- All right, go.

Good job.

Freestyle, man this is freestyle Sunday.

- 30 minutes?

- [Ricky] 30 minutes, yes sir.

- All right.

- I'm gonna be ready, I ain't gonna let you down.

Hat fall off my damn head.

Okay, all right cool.

Been here before, I've been down and out, I get right back up when I get knocked down.

Everything is everything, I'm a pro.

- I can stall them when they get in and start talking.

I can chew the fat, we cool buddy.

We are good.

I hope it works out.

Guess what?

We ready for you.

[celebratory music plays] [restaurant buzzes excitedly] - How's everybody tonight?

I just do the front part, he just does the cooking.

I'm Adrian Lyndsey.

I'm the front man.

Hello there.

Hello.

Have you eaten bone fish before?

[laughs] - Those are the heart of the meat.

You guys go in the dining room now.

Go in the dining room.

Represent the Moore tribe, go.

[restaurant goers buzz] The folk who come here tonight gonna eat well, period.

- I'll go in detail about what we are and what we do in a little bit.

Chef is doing food as we speak.

This is a basic fish fry, so if you came expecting something fancy [laughs] I'm sorry, you're gonna be disappointed.

[laughter] If you don't know, if you've ever eaten at Saltbox, Saltbox fish comes from the coast of North Carolina, the fish tonight comes from the coast of North Carolina.

- Salt, that's for the fish.

What's up?

- Chef?

- [Ricky] Yup.

- How close are we?

- I'm real close.

[chuckles] Happy Sunday, how's everybody?

[audience cheers and applauds] - [Adrian] Whoa, whoa, whoa.

Y'all didn't clap for me now.

[laughter] - So tonight's menu.

The terminology is la meunire, okay?

Loosely translated, in the style of the miller's wife.

So the story goes is that the miller and wife, and they milled and wheated flour.

So, you know, when they caught fish from the lake, she would dredge it in the flower that they milled and pan fried in whole butter.

And technically, the butter went a little bit over, so it got kind of brown and nutty, so in order for her to stop it from burning, she added some lemon juice to it, so it stopped that whole process, and what you end up with is this brown buttered nuttiness and this citrus note.

So that's what we're gonna be served tonight.

[rap music] - But this is how we grew up, eating fish just like this.

- We appreciate you enjoying the bone fish, highlighting a forgotten part of our culture brought to us by our ancestors.

They were enslaved, yes, but they gave us some good food, and we should be grateful for that and honor them for that.

A big round of applause for the man who made it all possible, who pleased your belly.

[audience cheers and applauds] - Thank you, thank you.

First of all stop.

Let me introduce my wife, Norma.

[audience claps] My young daughter, Hunter.

[audience claps] And my young sir, Greyson.

[audience claps] This is a pleasure, okay, know that.

Okay, so please stay tuned, okay?

Thank you so much.

- Thank you.

[audience cheers] ["North Cack" by G Yamazawa] - Good man good, I'm glad I could help.

[music plays over voices] Thanks so much guys, for your help.

Come here, my man, child.

Give me a hug, Hunter, child.

You gotta go to school tomorrow.

I'll see you.

My love.

- Okay see you.

- Take it easy.

- Bye, don't be too late.

- Bye, I love you goodbye.

[crickets chirp] [funky music plays] [soft music plays] - [Woman] Funding provided by: Additional funding provided by the Outer Banks Visitor Bureau.

[cars horns beep] [waves crash]